The present invention is related to a method of laying underwater pipe lines under an ice sheet.
A number of methods have been proposed for laying a pipe across an ice covered channel, for example, a proposal to prepare a pipe string and lay it on the ice and thereafter lower the prepared pipe string from the ice surface down a pipe guideway through a slot in the ice, the guideway being supported by a series of gantries.
Different ice conditions and different lengths of span not to mention depths of water, prevailing current etc. all tend to make different approaches to the pipe laying problem necessary.
The present invention seeks to provide a method of pipe laying which is generally universally useful and particularly, useful for severe conditions such as those encountered in the Arctic.